Tracker-board.



BEST AVAILABLE C J. (LEAGEY.

TRACKER BOARD.

unmumn rum) no.9, 1910.

' 1,067,479. Patented July 15, 1913.

music. sheet,-as for example-zone tracker BEST AVAILABLE cop:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES CLARKE HAGEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, SSIGNOR TO THE CABLE COMPANY,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

TRACKER-BOARD.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1913.

Application-filed December 9, 1910. Serial No. 596,496.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, James O. -HAGEY, a; citizen of the United States,residing at Chicage, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a 'certainnew and useful Improvement in Tracker-Boards, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to tracker boards for player pianos and likeinstruments, and especiallyto a construction or arrangement forpermitting the useil'of difierentlstyles or kinds of musicv on the sameinstrument.

. I My invention contemplates the provision of two tracker boards, eachone'of which is to be used with a difierent type or kind of having 65ports or apertures, and the other with 88 apertures, for 65 and 88no'te'music respectively.

The invention further contemplates the provision 1 of new. and improvedmeans by j which either one of suchtrackers can be usedat will, and theother temporarily put out-of service. I

In the arrangement-herein shownfor carryin'g out therinvention',acjcover. Orr-some other- -suitable device i's -provided and adapted tobeapplied to either one or the'other of. saidtracker boards,-so thateither one or 'the'other, as desired, may be coveredand its ports" orapertures closed. ,This, of course, putsthe covered tracker board, outof service for the time being, making the other-one only availableforserv-ice. Such coveror other device may be? temporarily attached invarious ways, some ofwhich areshown and suggested herein; Thesearrangements are shown asillustrative of the invention, but are notintended to mark its limitations." .1. v

In the accompanying;drawingsFigure 1 is a front elevation of a trackerboard construction or arrangement embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is across section taken on line 2-2. in Fig. 1-;-Fig. 3 is at perspectiveview of a part of the bodily removable covering; F1g.4.is a frontelevation of a part of the modified form of arrangement; Fig. 5 is across section taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a cross section ofa second modification and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the cover usedin the arrangement shown in Fig. 6.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I have shown tracker boards 1 and1, having inclined tracking or hearing faces, 1 and 1*, respectively."These two trackers are arranged side by side,;with their inclined facessloping inopposite directions, so that the music sheet may travel overthem. As shown the face l has 88 apertures 2-2, and the other face 1 has65 apertures, 33. The trackers are-understood to be connected up so thateither one or the other can be used to play the instrument.

I have shown a cover 4:, in the form of a long metal'sheath, capable ofbeing applied to either tracker. This sheath is conveniently made'outof: sheet metal bent into a more or less U shaped cross section, asshown in Fig.3, sovthat when applied to one or the other of said trackerboards, it will not only cover'the' tracking or bearing face of thesame, but .will' also extend down the upper andxlower edges thereof, orin otherwords, theside edges, as well shown in Fig. 2, the trackerboards being separated from one another 'sufiiciently to. allow theinsertion of the sheath'in'aterialbetween them. The edged 'ofjthis'sheathris longer than the other edge'4 and extends down the 'outer sideof 'the-tracker board; to which it isa'pplied, whereas the' shorter edge49 extends down into the recess or space between the t'wotrackers'.Thecover' 4 being of sheet metal is somewhatsresilient and is made sothat the normal distance between its sides or edges, 4: and 49, whenremoved from the tracker is: slightly @less than the thickness of theboards. Consequently when the cover is placed over ,eitherfof theboards, it maintainsitself -securelyin place. The edge 4:" isprovided-with an joutwardly turned flange 4, which-can be easily engagedor taken hold of for the purpose ofapplying or removing said cover orsheath. A strip 5, of leather or' other suitable material, is preferablyapplied to the inner face of the sheath 4:, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.When this sheath or covering 4 is applied to either of the trackerboards, it will, of course, cover the apertures of that'board, puttingit out of service to all intents and purposes for the time being, andthe 'other or uncovered tracker is left free to cooperate with the BESTAVAILABLE Cop traveling music sheet. When, however, it is desired to usethe other tracker board, the cover or sheath i', is removed from thetracker it'is covering'an'd placed upon the other one, thereby coveringthe latter and uncovering theformer, and making the former available forservice instead of the latter.

Referring to Figs; 4 and 5, I have shown the two tracker boards 6and'fi, with a wider space or groove between them than is shown betweenthe tracker boards 1, and 1*, previously referred to. I also show aspring clip 7, formed to fit over both tracker boards, and down betweenthe same. This clip can be applied to the trackers and removedtherefrom, screws 7- being employed for that purpose. .The clip'shown isapplied to one end of theitracker boards, in Fig. 4. Another clip ofthesame kind is understood to be applied to the other ends of said trackerboards in the same way. lhe middle and end parts of these clips 7arevformed so as to receiveand releasablv hold long r0ds8-8, which-rodsarepart of a 'bodily removable sheathor cover 9, made ofleatheri or;othenzsuitable'material attached to 'therods Thus the sheath or cover 9can be applied: t'o.- either one of the trackerboa'rdsa bynplacinga it'over suchtracker andicausingcthe long sidei'ods 8-8 to licome engaged:release-lily held in other one; .fForexaimpl, to chang 'its positionfrom that -shown'i n 5 the two rods 88 will be detached'from engagementwith the clips 7'7, and=removed from their positions andraised and-causedto engage the upper-parts: of said clips 77.' 1

Referring to Figs.- 6' and7, I have shown twotracker boards, 10 and 1G,with slight projections 11' and 12, at their edges I also show acover13-, made =of two long rods 14-1 4, and a metal strip 13') carrying saidrods 14 I 4 at its opposite' edges'. A leather strip 16' is extendedbetween the rods 14-44. This-sheath or cover 13 is applied to one or theother of said trackers by having its rods engage the projecting portionsof the same, the cover or sheath being clasped orclamped over one or theother'of said tracker boards, as desired. To-change the position of thecover or sheath from one tracker board to the other, the same is bodilyremoved by disengaging the spring controlled edge parts find ghanged inposition to theother tracker oar It will be seen by the arrangement setforth herein the cover or other port closing device can be applied atwill directly to either tracker board, or otherwise, and can be easilyand quickly removed for application to the other, thus allowing easy andready manipulation; and also that the use of mechanism in connectionwith the device is dispensed with, thereby greatly simplifying andcheapening the construction of the iustriuucut in this particular.

It will be understood that changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described in combination, a pair of trackerboards set side by side and separated by a small intervening space, saidboards being of equal thickness and having inclined faces presenting asubstantially convex surface, and a cover capable of being applied toeither one of said boards, said cover being formed of stiff resilientmaterial and having two parallel sides for engagingthe sides of one orthe other of said boards, and also having an inclined face connectingsaid parallel sides, the inclination of the face of said boards beingsubstantially the same as the inclination of the cover and the thicknessof said boards being slightly greater than thenorone of said boards,said cover being formed ofstifii' resilient material and having twoparallel sides for engaging the sides of one or the other of saidboards, and also having an inclined face connecting said parallel sides,the inclination of the face of said boards being substantially the sameas-the inclination of the cover and the thickness of said boards beingslightly greater than the normal distance between the parallel sides ofsaid cover, one of said sides having a projecting flange to aiiord' aconvenient hand piece.

3. In a device of the class described in combinatiom'a pair of trackerboards set side by side and separated by a small intervening space,.saidboards being of equal thickness and having oppositely inclined facespresenting a substantially convex surface, and a. cover capable of beingapplied to either one of said boards, said cover being formed of stiffresilient material and having two parallel sides for engaging the sidesof one or the other of said boards, and also having an inclined faceconnecting said BEST AVAiLABLE COP.

parallel sides, the inclination of the face of said boards beingsubstantially the same as the inclination of the cover and the thicknessof said boards being slightly greater than the normal distance betweenthe parallel sides of said cover, one of said sides being longer thanthe other and having a projecting flange to afford a convenient handpiece.

4. In a device of the class described in combination, a pair of trackerboards set side by side and separated by a small intervening space, saidboards being of equal thickness and having oppositely inclined facespresenting a substantially convex surface, a cover capable of beingapplied to either one of said boards, said cover being formed of stifiresilient material and having tWo parallel sides for engaging the sidesof one or the other of said boards, and also having an inclined faceconnecting said parallel sides, the inclination of the face of saidboards being substantially the same as the inclination of the cover, andthe thickness of said boards being slightly greater than the normaldistance between the parallel sides of said cover, one of said sidesbeing longer than the other and having a projecting flange to aiiord aconvenient hand piece, and a backing strip attached to the inside of theinclined face of said cover.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this third day ofDecember A. D.,

JAMES CLARKE HAGEY. \Vitnesses:

N. D. TOBIN, WM. F. HEINRICHS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. G.

